Sounds of 2010

Hotly tipped by the claque of hacks, pluggers and insiders who make up the industry taste making machine, Stornoway are thus the only band on this list who may actually make it big. Hailing from Oxford (not Stornoway), the band are made of gently eccentric academics with a clear love for Celtic folk and Belle & Sebastian.

Their music is of the wistful, pretty, crystalline type, with big pop balladry, trumpets, and yearning vocals reminiscent of King Creosote. The multi-layered, Fleet Foxes like Zorbing promised much, and if they can keep themselves from translating Russian novels and going on tandem bicycle rides long enough to produce an album, mild mannered world domination could be theirs.

Allo Darlin’ are the vehicle for the songs of Elizabeth Morris, a young Australian who decamped to London in search of adventure and the raw materials to create the perfect pop band. Five years down the line and she’s nearly there – the flute-enhanced indiepop jangle of Polaroid Song, and the brassy, joyous stomp of Henry Rollins Don’t Dance were two of the best singles of 2009.

Masters of intimate lovelorn balladry, up-tempo ukulele-pop, and armed with a voice to match a young Kirsty MacColl, Allo, Darlin’s debut album comes out in February and deserves the love of shy extroverts everywhere.

Shrag sound like a pissed off mash of Kenickie, Elastica, Le Tigre, The B52s, The Long Blondes and Bis. Thus, they have the potential to be the best band of all time.

Last year’s eponymous debut was a collection of their singles so far, and suggested that Shrag are surrounded by shit lovers, trendy pricks and other assorted idiots, and they’ve had enough. The delightful Pregnancy Scene bewails all their friends having kids too young, and the lovely Forty Five 45′ seems to be about hating bands simply because someone you think is a twat likes them. Loud, shout and funny, I await Shrag’s next move with great interest.

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2 Responses to “Sounds of 2010”

Like the eloquent description of Shrag, which is reason enough to give them a search on spotify. If you haven’t OD’d (justifiably) on top albums of the decade lists, you might be interested in my light-hearted top 10 post. p.s. like the banner photo.